The Greatest Thing
by TheWaywardWhim
Summary: A normal day, an unexpected end. KibaHina. Warning: Character death.


_What started out as a normal day ended up different. Different from what I wanted, and different from what everyone expected. It was a great loss for me and for the rest of Konoha. But for him, it was the greatest thing he ever did._

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan," said Kiba as he saw Hinata walking out of the Hyuuga mansion.

"O-ohayo gozaimasu, K-Kiba-kun," she greeted her teammate, "o-ohayo gozaimasu to you too, A-Akamaru-kun."

Akamaru barked a good morning to her.

Kiba chuckled, "So, do you have any plans for today?"

"A-ano. N-no, I a-actually don't have any p-plans for t-today," she replied.

"Good. I was looking for someone to train with. Is it okay if you train with me and Akamaru?"

"H-hai. Sure." She always wanted to become stronger so she accepted Kiba's invitation. Besides, Kiba is her teammate and a close friend. She should always help him.

"Good," he said again, "Shino and Kurenai-sensei are both on missions. My mom's also on a mission and Hana's too busy in her clinic."

Hinata nodded. Of course, she knew that Shino and Kurenai are on missions. Why else would she have no plans for today?

"Let's train somewhere outside of Konoha. Akamaru and I always do that," he said.

Kiba led Hinata to a clearing in the forests far from Konoha. The morning breeze was cool even if the sun was shining brightly and there are only a few clouds in the sky. Birds were chirping loudly and once in a while, they could see butterflies fluttering about. Hinata seemed to be admiring everything she saw even if she sees them whenever she goes outside Konoha. Kiba watched her intently.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" he asked.

"H-huh?" Hinata looked at him.

"The flowers, the sky, the birds, everything," he said.

"O-oh. Y-yes. Even if th-they are just s-small and s-simple things, t-they're s-still beautiful," she said.

Akamaru barked at them. He wanted to remind them that they were here to train, and not admire the things around them. Kiba laughed.

"Akamaru wants us to start training now," he said to Hinata.

Hinata agreed. They started by practicing their aims using kunai and shuriken. Next, they practiced basic punches and kicks. After that, they took a rest by meditating, and then they sparred.

Just as Kiba and Akamaru were going to use their Gatsuuga, they heard an unusual sound in the trees. Suddenly, four ninjas appeared and made a grab for Hinata. Kiba, as if by instinct, quickly went to Hinata's side before they could reach her. The ninjas backed away a little.

"Alright, what do you want from us?" Kiba asked. He looked at their forehead protector and he didn't seem to recognize the symbol on it.

"It's none of your business, boy," one of them said.

"We want the girl, not you so back off," another one said. The other ninjas looked at him as if to say, 'you idiot, why did you say that?'

Kiba grinned, "So that's what you want, ne? Well, I don't care why but you're not taking her. Akamaru, are you ready?"

His face became more serious when he told Hinata to escape quietly while he fights them off. He knew Hinata was tired from all the training.

Much to his surprise, Hinata shook her head and said, "K-Kiba-kun. I-I won't let y-you go through w-with this a-alone. I-I may be t-tired from the t-training b-but I'm s-still s-strong enough."

He didn't have time to argue with his teammate because the ninjas from the unknown village started attacking. Both of them got into a fighting stance. It was a fierce fight between them and the other ninjas. Even if it was three against four, Kiba and Akamaru plus Hinata made a pretty strong team. Eventually, Hinata started losing strength. Kiba noticed this and started to rush over to help her.

"Let me handle this. Find a way to escape," he said while fighting all four ninjas.

Hinata, knowing she couldn't keep it up any longer, and that she's the one whom the ninjas wanted, obeyed Kiba. She also knew that she had no choice. She hid somewhere behind the nearby bushes but she stayed there in case Kiba needed backup. She planned to rest for awhile and come out again when she got stronger. The reason why she didn't go to Konoha to inform the Hokage and get reinforcements was because there wasn't enough time. If she left Kiba and went to Konoha, by the time she got back to where Kiba and Akamaru were now, she would probably find them dead. Besides, it's too risky. The ninjas are too good. Maybe they would go after her (she's tired and injured so naturally, she'll travel slowly) and Kiba's too weak to chase after them, especially considering that he and Akamaru were seriously injured. It was best to stay hidden, watch them and study the enemies' moves so she could find their weaknesses, which would be handy when she would go out and help her teammate.

Suddenly, she heard Kiba scream in pain so she looked at the direction where the fight was going on only to see her friend being mercilessly tortured right before her eyes. It was a horrible sight and she felt bad since she wasn't there to save him before it was too late.

She then felt a light tap on her left shoulder. She turned to see Kurenai standing beside her. In a flash, Shino and a few other ninjas appeared and fought with the enemies. Kurenai left her side and joined in the battle. In a short while, all four were killed. Hinata came out from behind the bushes and attended to her almost dead teammate while Kurenai, Shino and the other ninjas checked the area in case other ninjas would arrive.

"H-Hinata-chan?" Kiba said weakly.

"Shh. Don't talk. Kurenai-sensei sent an urgent message to Hokage-sama asking for medical help. They'll arrive here any minute," she said reassuringly. She noticed she wasn't stammering like usual.

"N-no, no. I-it's not that," he turned his head sideways, facing away from her, "I-it's just th-that I'm not going t-to l-live any longer. I-it's too late to save me now. I-I know you kn-know it too, a-and s-so does Shino and K-Kurenai-sensei. I-I wanted to t-tell you this a l-long time ago..."

He faced Hinata. She noticed he was blushing.

"I-I love you."

She was surprised at what he said to her. She couldn't find any words to say and she also felt her cheeks go red.

After a few moments of silence, she managed to say, "K-Kiba-kun..."

She started to cry when she noticed that Kiba was having a hard time breathing. She knew his time was about up.

"I don't m-mind dying at all. I'm glad I d-did it for you. D-don't be s-sad for me. I c-couldn't do anything m-more. It is th-the greatest th-thing I c-could ever do f-for you."

With that, he breathed his last. Hinata hugged him tight.

"K-Kiba-kun..."she didn't hesitate to cry even if ninjas aren't supposed to be showing emotion at times like this.

She felt a light touch on her shoulder. She looked up to see Kurenai. They were done scanning the area and found nothing. Kurenai had a serious face while looking at her student's dead body.

The medical ninjas arrived. Seeing they were too late, they just carried Kiba back to Konoha.

_Kurenai-sensei told me that their mission was to kill the ninjas from the Shadow Organization, a dangerous group of ninjas who attack families usually with advanced bloodlines. The ninjas knew about the Hyuuga family and they wanted to discover the secret of Byakugan. The Hokage received a warning from the Hidden Sun Village warning them of the organization and she didn't want the same thing to happen to us again. Tsunade-sama sent Kurena-sensei, Shino-kun and other ninjas in order to track them down and kill them. They had been successful in killing some members of the organization but four managed to escape and found Kiba-kun and me in the woods. That's how the story began, and how the story ended._

_And now, as I'm standing at his graveyard, I regret never being able to return his feelings towards me. Why did I only have to say 'K-Kiba-kun' when I could have said 'I love you too'? I know it's too late to let him know that, now that he's gone forever. The least I can do is to train harder. He's always encouraged me to do better in everything I do, and I did nothing to repay him. It's only now that I realized I owe him that much._

_Kiba-kun, I know you left me here so I can continue training hard. I know you want me to become better so people will not mistake me as a weakling. I promise I will do everything I can to make you feel that your sacrifice is something I won't forget, something I appreciate, something worthwhile._


End file.
